The Sonic Ecosystem of Nature Documentaries

This talk will focus on the acoustic dimension of nature documentaries, which often has very little to do with the nature that is represented in the images. This has consequences for the representation of our environment, nature, animals and plant life in this genre. Iversen will argue that the acoustic dimension of nature documentaries reflects human needs and considerations and that this generates an anthropocentric worldview even when humans are out of the picture. What is projected onto nature in these films and TV-series reveals the most urgent struggles of human culture.

Gunnar Iversen is Professor of Film Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and Visiting Professor at Carleton University, Ottawa. He has written more than 20 books in Norwegian. His writings have appeared in Film History, Early Popular Visual Culture and Journal of Scandinavian Cinema. In 2010 he co-edited Beyond the Visual: Sound and Image in Ethnographic and Documentary Film (Intervention Press), and in 2012 he co-wrote Historical Dictionary of Scandinavian Cinema (Scarecrow Press).

This talk is free and open to the public! Light snacks will be provided.